Hi,

Need some advise.

Our eldest daughter has left her house without paying any council tax or rent for ages.

She is living at a friends house but i genuinely do not know were she lives

We have some how gotten her debt collection letters which we have returned and this morning we had three letters from the same place, curiosity got the better of me and i opened one.

Dukes Bailiffs notice of enforcement !!

typically they are closed now - have spoke to the police and they say its civil but how do i stop these morons from coming here?

The facts

Same surname but has never lived at this address - not on the electoral register.

All the letters come c/o to her

Thanks in advance

They have traced her to your address, as presumably on some database she is linked to your address.

Speak to Dukes on Monday. If you have anything official confirming who lives at your address, perhaps you can send them a copy.

You don't have to tell them the address where your Daughter is currently living.

If you are speaking to your Daughter, suggest that she needs to deal with it or risks being asked to attend a court to explain why she is not paying.

Do you live in England or Scotland ?

You can't stop them.

They have a warrant in their possession which means that they have to eventually call round to observe the conditions of the Court instructions.

One way to minimise their effect would be to explain what you said to us above, let them in to prove that she does not live with you.

The problem that could arise with that is if you have other daughters living with you.

It should help if you make a Statuary Declaration to the effect that your daughter does not live with you nor does she have any possessions there either. It will not stop them coming once to confirm as far as they can that she is not there.

Lookingforinfo has stated the correct position.

A warrant is an order from the court to the enforcement agent instructing him to 'take control of goods' belonging to the person named on the warrant (in this case your daughter).

You have not given much background information. For instance, could it be the case that your daughter provided your address as a 'care off' address when moving from her previous address?

Enforcement companies are very reliant upon 'tracing' facilities to trace debtors. For example, they may have discovered that your daughter applied for credit (a mobile phone contract is a good example) using your address. She may also have used your address for an application for benefits etc.

Either way, you cannot simply ignore the correspondence hoping that it will go away. It may help to speak with the council on Monday. They may cite the Data Protection stating that the rules do not allow them to speak with you but then again, they may be very helpful.

generally a warrant is served on the address as ordered by the court rather than any address they think is connected

usually this is the address of the property that the CT is owed on or a permanent address as per the electoral roll.

It would be worth checking with the court as to what address the warrant is issued for because the bailiffs may have gone to that address and the current occupier has given them your address.

If that is the case then the council has to go back to court and get the warrant varied for the new address and your declaration that she is not living or associated with your address should stop them trying to enforce there..

This is the section of the act which relates to premises where the bailiff can call.

Section 14 (schedule12)

(6)

Otherwise premises are relevant if the enforcement agent reasonably believes that they are the place, or one of the places, where the debtor—

(a)

usually lives, or

So what you have to do is remove anything would leave them to believe your daughter lives there.

A sworn notice as mentioned earlier would do the trick, I would think.

generally a warrant is served on the address as ordered by the court rather than any address they think is connected

 

 

usually this is the address of the property that the CT is owed on or a permanent address as per the electoral roll.

 

 

It would be worth checking with the court as to what address the warrant is issued for because the bailiffs may have gone to that address and the current occupier has given them your address.

 

 

If that is the case then the council has to go back to court and get the warrant varied for the new address and your declaration that she is not living or associated with your address should stop them trying to enforce there..

Eric this is not about serving a warrant, the warrant is served to the bailiff, he then enforces it. It confers on him the right to use the procedure.(schedule12)

I should add in these cases it is an order not a warrant, as it is an enactment which forms the power not a court judgement.

thanks for your replies.

Just to confirm she has never lived here and the letters are coming to her as c/o

Im guessing he council have used our address because her son has been removed from her care and placed into ours. There is a long line of letters coming from the social workers to us.

I can post the letter with all the names and account numbers removed if it helps?

Thanks again

I would send al proof to the bailiff and copy it to the council.

It is unfortunate that some bailiffs sometimes use thee methods to fish for a debtors address, this is against guidance and the council may intervene.

, but I would give the bailiff a chance to respond.

In the mean time, if one should call do not let him in, and as inconvenient as it may be , I would not have my car anywhere near the house until all this is resolved.

Thanks.

House is now on lockdown until its sorted out.

My car is a company car and registered to Lex Autolease and the wife's car is on finance so i hope that keeps them clear?

just worried that they are going to get entry some how and say - prove the TV isnt you daughters, prove the laptop isnt your daughters etc etc

I have to disagree with this I am afraid. This forum is full of cases where bailiffs have taken goods first and asked questions afterword's. Particularly when a clamp is used. Besides I would not want to put myself in situation where I had to explain anything to a bailiff stood outside my door, keep them out of the way, just for now.

thanks for your replies.

 

Just to confirm she has never lived here and the letters are coming to her as c/o

 

Im guessing he council have used our address because her son has been removed from her care and placed into ours. There is a long line of letters coming from the social workers to us.

 

I can post the letter with all the names and account numbers removed if it helps?

 

Thanks again

If you mean that you can post the letters on the forum (with all personal information removed) this is not at all necessary.

There is clearly 'history' here and I would be very surprised indeed if this matter cannot be resolved very simply with the council on Monday. If not, please do post back.

PS: Unless you are tempted to invite the enforcement agent into your home (not to be recommended in this particular case), then the matter of your TV and computers is not an issue.

Yes indeed.

Bailiffs can enforce between 6 am and 9 pm, so unless you stand shotgun over your vehicles , well.

Also there is a big difference between, what in an opinion of a website adviser bailiff should do, and what they can do. Especially when it all hinges on the belief of the enforcement officer. All you can do is present proof at the scene, if he disagrees he can continue, then it is a matter for a court, with all the upheaval that contains.

Keep the cars away, and do not let rthe bailiff in.

UPDATE:

Spoke to Dukes on the Monday after my post, they were weirdly helpful.

All action has been stopped and referred back to the council

Wife took a day off work and went to the council and complained - they are still unsure who or what linked our address but they have apologised.

Still keeping an eye out for anyone knocking at my door but thats probably my paranoia

Thanks again

Excellent, seems their little fishing trip has been terminated.

The enforcement company would have referred the account back to their client as they are likely satisfied that your daughter does not live at your property. Well done to Duke's.

The enforcement company would have referred the account back to their client as they are likely satisfied that your daughter does not live at your property. Well done to Duke's.

Hmmm